On Might 23, Sony printed an interview with The Final of Us director Neil Druckmann as a part of a company-wide marketing campaign on the way forward for expertise. The Q&A was extraordinarily controversial, together with quotes from Druckmann advocating for using synthetic intelligence to put in writing dialogue and lower prices, on high of some braggadocious phrases about Naughty Canine’s subsequent sport. Nonetheless, following Druckmann publicly disputing how the interview portrayed his reply concerning the studio’s subsequent undertaking, Sony has eliminated the interview from its web site fully.
In the event you take a look at the net web page the place the interview as soon as was, you’ll now discover a assertion from Sony saying it discovered “a number of important errors” in the way it portrayed Druckmann’s solutions, together with his perspective on “animation, writing, expertise, AI, and future tasks.” Notably, when Druckmann disputed the interview publicly, he centered particularly on how he talked about Naughty Canine’s subsequent sport. The interview quoted Druckmann as saying the studio’s upcoming sport “may redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming,” although Druckmann’s transcript says nothing of the type. It’s nonetheless unclear how correct the quotes on AI have been, as Druckmann didn’t convey consideration to them in his tweets on the matter. Sony’s assertion reads as follows:
In re-reviewing our latest interview with Naughty Canine’s Neil Druckmann, we’ve got discovered a number of important errors and inaccuracies that don’t signify his perspective and values (together with matters equivalent to animation, writing, expertise, AI, and future tasks). We apologize to Neil for misrepresenting his phrases and for any destructive impression this interview may need precipitated him and his group. In coordination with Naughty Canine and SIE, we’ve got eliminated the interview.
As for the way this occurred, we will solely speculate, however if you conduct an interview internally, it can in the end have a PR spin. It’s vital to do not forget that Naughty Canine is wholly owned by Sony, so this was very a lot an inner affair. Generally company higher-ups may wish to weave a story whereas utilizing a public determine’s affect. Somebody at Sony might have been wanting to push AI as the long run and drum up hype for Naughty Canine’s subsequent sport and made some heavy-handed edits. Or, you understand, they may have given an excessive amount of work to a brand new intern. There’s additionally the likelihood that this may very well be injury management after the interview didn’t go over nicely with the general public.
Druckmann is presently engaged on HBO’s The Final of Us present, which is capturing its second season. HBO just lately introduced that Jeffrey Wright will probably be reprising his function as Isaac after enjoying the character in The Final of Us Half II.
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